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USA - Kentucky
Norton Healthcare, a large integrated health system headquartered in Louisville, KY, launched its Brain Health Navigator (BHN) program within the Norton Neuroscience Institute (NNI) Memory Center in partnership with primary care. The program deployed an RN navigator to bridge primary care and a fully staffed Memory Center, serving as a single point of contact across the full diagnostic journey. Referrals were accepted from both primary and specialty care, and the navigator focused on care coordination, caregiver education, advance care planning, and anti-amyloid therapy (AAT) navigation.
In the first six months, the program generated 123 referrals and enrolled 103 active patients (an 84% enrollment rate) and 26 patients initiated AAT. Fewer than 10% of those approached declined BHN services, and caregiver satisfaction was overwhelmingly positive. Notably, the BHN identified urgent non-cognitive comorbidities in multiple patients including cardiac arrhythmia, severe anemia, and high-risk sleep apnea, enabling timely intervention.
Referral time to memory care averaged 4–6 weeks, and the BHN managed more than 300 encounters that would otherwise have been routed to providers or medical assistants. AAT eligibility was frequently confirmed at or shortly after initial consultation. Norton experienced no significant reimbursement barriers, and downstream revenue from MRI and labs is forecast to support break-even.
Successes included early engagement of operations teams, a workflow designed to minimize provider disruption, and routine reimbursement through PIN/PCM billing codes. Challenges included ongoing iteration of the navigator role definition, difficulty maintaining clinician awareness given short appointment times, and complex revenue forecasting due to variable navigation intensity over time.
The program is continuing and expanding beyond the initial pilot sites. Norton's downstream revenue model supports long-term sustainability, and plans are underway to embed advanced practice providers in primary care with specialty dementia training.
GC
Greg Cooper, MD, PhD, MBA
Director of the Memory Center, Norton Neuroscience Institute
DL
Deborah Lockridge, BSN, RN, CRRC
Brain Health Nurse Navigator, Norton Neuroscience Institute
SF
Stephanie Freeman, MSSW
Memory Center Coordinator, Norton Neuroscience Institute
SH
Steve Hester, MD, MBA
Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical and Strategy Officer, Norton Healthcare
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Steven Patton, DO
Family Medicine Specialist, Norton Community Medical Associates-Preston
Cooper GE, Patton S, Lockridge D, Freeman SW, Drexler D, Wasz K. Brain health n avigation in a large integrated healthcare system. J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2026 Mar;13(3):100471. doi: 10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100471.